


Flora and Fauna

by ArtisticTrash



Series: Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week 2021 [1]
Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2001)
Genre: Aromantic Awareness Week, Gardens & Gardening, Gen, ace hana, aro yuki, asaw2021, my personal headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29637885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtisticTrash/pseuds/ArtisticTrash
Summary: Yuki is in the garden with Tohru and Kyo when Tohru asks Yuki if he’s had an crushes. Yuki says no. Kyo doesn’t believe him but Tohru does.
Relationships: implied tohru/kyo
Series: Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177709
Kudos: 8





	Flora and Fauna

**Author's Note:**

> I have not watched the newer anime nor have I read the manga. So I am going off of my best memory from the 2001 anime. And yeah, that's about it. It's also post season one but I don't think it really matters other than the fact that Tohru is closer to Kyo and Yuki isn't mean to Kyo all the time.

“If you don’t like being here, then you are welcomed to leave,” Yuki says without a second thought as he gazes up from underneath a large, green leaf. Kyo, his hands caked in dirt, glares back.

“I just might!” He shouts.

“Aw, but we were having fun,” Tohru laments to herself rather quietly but both boys still heard her.

Yuki sighs and leaves any other remark hanging in the back of his mind. Surely they’d be useful one day, just not right here and not right now. Kyo goes back to kneeling on the ground and steaming to himself. It was Tohru’s request to come to his garden this afternoon to pick the ripe vegetables for dinner. She even asked permission for Kyo to join them, which he accepted because he gained new respect for the two of them since that awful, rainy night; and, maybe, Kyo wasn’t as bad as Yuki always thought he was.

Tohru uses a spade to carefully unearth a decently sized carrot. A large work moves around in the hole left behind. “Is this good enough?”

He smiles. The question should probably be one for her. After all, she did the cooking and would know how much was needed to make their food. He looks the carrot over for anything to make it undesirable and then nods. “It is.”

Tohru places it in the wooden basket they’re all sharing, filled with other vegetables, and looks over to Kyo. She shuffles around the plot to see if he needs help.

“How can you tell they’re good? They’re all dirty,” Kyo says with a scowl.

“Well, they’re roots. So, of course, they’re gonna be covered in dirt, silly.”

There’s a beat of silence. Wind blows through the trees and moves all the living plants around. They sway in motion as does his hair. It sounds like ocean waves. Yuki closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in and then out. This gentle moment is freedom. Freedom like he’s never known.

With Tohru’s laughter and Kyo’s fiery attitude, here in his safe place, he’s able to relax and live in the moment rather than in his head. Perhaps, one day, he could live like this in the outside world.

“Yuki, what about you?”

He comes back to reality; opening his eyes and looking across the small plot of land to see Tohru and Kyo staring back at him. “Hm?”

“Have you ever had a crush before?”

Yuki pauses. He stares at a spinach plant before him, its leaves free of bug feedings or such. His mice do a very good job at keeping away pests. He then looks back over to the pair.

“No, I don’t think I have.”

“Really?” Tohru asks softly, in slight disbelief but not in a way so she made a big deal about it. Kyo did not have such subtlety to his nature.

“You’ve attended school here for years. And I’ve seen those girls. Surely there’s someone you liked, even if you knew you couldn’t date them,” Kyo rebuttals. Tohru looks at him with a complicated expression. Yuki isn’t sure what part of the statement has offended her.

Yuki shakes his head. His face is rather simple as he knows rising to Kyo’s energy only results in a fight. “No, not really. I haven’t given much thought to it.”

“Because of the curse?”

A beat of silence fills the air as Yuki ponders about life without the curse. If he was free to pursue intimate relationships with the opposite sex, would he? It only takes a few seconds for him to make an answer he deems accurate of the hypothetical situation.

“No. I don’t think the curse has anything to do with it.”

Kyo sits in somewhat shock. He opens his mouth to ask another, most likely invasive, question but Tohru saves him from it.

“It’s okay that you don’t have a crush.” Her smile is like a breath of fresh air. There was a slight worry in his head she may call him abnormal. Like Kyo is probably thinking. It’s the same worry that prevented Yuki from telling his own parents to Shigure or even Hatori. But she manages to quell his fear. “That’s normal.”

Without really thinking about it, those were the exact words Yuki wanted to hear. He smiles wide enough to show teeth and doesn’t bother fighting his instincts to cover it. She looks as though she wants to get up and hug him but she stays beside Kyo.

“Wait, huh?”

Tohru’s gaze silently asks if he would wish to explain himself or have her go on. He briefly closes his eyes and shakes his head. Kyo would understand better coming from Tohru. She takes Kyo’s hand to get his attention, at which his face heats up, but he doesn’t run away.

“Think of it like this,” she starts. “You like girls, right?” Kyo nods and he looks at her as if she were oblivious. “And I like boys.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Just listen to her, stupid cat,” Yuki says as he quietly listens to Tohru.

“That’s how people usually think relationships are supposed to be but it’s not always like that. Hana, for an example, doesn’t like anyone. And Yuki sounds a lot like she did when she came out.”

Kyo bites his tongue from speaking any further. The conversation is one he does not know how to interact in. But Yuki is deeply invested and Tohru is rather knowledgeable.

“What do you mean she doesn’t ‘like’ anyone?” Yuki asks.

“Well, she said she lacked sexual attraction; she called it asexual. You can ask her more about it if you’d like. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

Yuki nods along, fully intending on taking Tohru up on her offer.

* * *

The next day at school, Yuki finds Hanajima with ease. During cleaning hours, he approaches her to talk. She doesn’t seem to have any worry about skipping out on her class duties and takes him to the roof to avoid the prying ears of his fan club. Though, with Hana around, they’d stay very far away.

She checked the hallway a final time before turning around. “You wanted to talk, Sohma?”

“Yes, Miss Honda told me you are asexual. Do you mind telling me more?”

“Of course, what would you like to know?”

“How did you know?”

“A few years ago. I did not find people ‘hot’ and I did not want to have sex. It was a simple search on internet forums to find the term. Our conversation is not making you uncomfortable, is it?”

“No.” Yuki shakes his head. “No, but, that sounds a little similar to myself.”

“Hm, maybe that is why your waves are different? Not quite like mine but not like everyone else’s.”

Yuki shuffles his feet as he watches he closely. Hanajima moves to sit down at a nearby bench. He follows her to keep a short distance between them but he does not sit next to her. “Well, tell me about yourself.”

Like Hanajima, he found his feelings rather simple to explain. He would have never thought it any different had Tohru never brought it up. So, the words were not difficult to form inside his head nor speak aloud. “I do find people attractive and I have thought about sex before but I cannot bring myself to form relationships. It is not that I fear I will be rejected or that I may hurt someone but I do not have the want to date.”

“Is that why you reject all those love confessions?” she mumbles to herself. “I think I have an idea.”

“Yes?”

“You may be aromantic; a person who lacks romantic attraction.”

Yuki sits there for a moment. Lack of romantic attraction definitely sounded like him. He’s rather smart and could likely figure a way to have a relationship with a girl without being intimate. And surely there are girls like Tohru in this world who would not run away in fear of his transformation. But could he ever imagine himself having a romantic relationship? No, he doesn’t think he can.

“Interesting,” he settles on saying.

“Romantic attraction and sexual attraction are two separate identities. I am sure no one has told you that before, though.”

“No, no they didn’t. Thank you, Miss Hanajima.”

“You are welcome. Do know, I cannot speak for your own feelings. I suggest when you have the time, to do some research on your own. You are not alone, Yuki.”

Hanajima stands and walks ahead of Yuki and to the stairway. Yuki hasn’t moved. He looks out at the scenery. For the second time in his life, he is different. Hanajima turns to notice him staring off into space. She calls out to him and he reacts by following her back to their classroom.

“You can come to me anytime you wish to discuss this or any topic, really. Your waves are not displeasing to be around and you hold good conversation.”

“I would not mind that.”

When they return, Hanajima is immediately greeted by Uo. She doesn’t make a joke about a boy and a girl being on the roof alone. Tohru gives him a knowing smile beckons him to join their fun of a new round of cards.


End file.
